Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life
I am a longtime professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, over 40 years on the faculty (will retire in 3 ½ years, at the age of 75). I have been quite active with Facebook posts for a number of years, which receive a surprising number of likes, comments, and dialogues among Facebook friends – of whom I now have 2985, all accumulated at retail. I have now decided to share many of my posts with others through a new blog.
What am I like? Politically, I am a moderate/liberal Democrat who is not very partisan – if you like screeds, you won’t like me (but don’t expect pro-Trump posts, though actually I have done a few over the years). Culturally, I am a fairly straight boomer – love the Beatles and Bob Dylan, also folk music. I read the hard copy New York Times religiously (home-delivered) and have read The Economist since high school. As a senior in college, I wrote a critical account of the sixties student protests as a senior in college, called Push Comes to Shove. I wrote a second book based on a bizarre five weeks in East Germany in 1971, called Behind the Berlin Wall.
During my teaching years, I took six years on two occasions serving in the federal government. I am definitely not anti-government.
I am a strong internationalist/ globalist/ multi-culturalist. I have spent a lot of time in Europe and China, speak fluent Swedish and have in the past commented on US elections in Swedish. I started studying Chinese at the age of 62. I believe that immigrants make America great.
I have always seen myself as a happy, positive person, but am now a cancer survivor who is not happy about getting old and answered in a 50th reunion class questionnaire that I was not reconciled with death.
I try always to be considerate and kind to others.
Below you will see my blog posts in the order from the most recent to the oldest. Please note that many of my blog posts will be very short.
Enjoy my blog. Comments welcome.